November 28, 2010

The Lanes of Virginia

Julie and Jeff sent a number of pictures. I will add them in the next 24 hours.

Today Jeff and I received four calling between the two of us: Elders Quorum Teacher (obviously Jeff), Primary 7-8 yr olds again (Julie), ward chorister (Julie), and achievement day leader (Julie, although Jeff would make a great leader). Jeff is excited for his calling, but aware that he is going to be busy planning lessons from now on. I am a little nervous for all three of my callings. However, I substituted for another class today at church, in Primary; which reaffirmed how very much I love the kids!!! We had fun acting out the Belshezzar assassination, part of how Darius came into power, and Daniel in the Lion's Den. Don't worry it was very educational and spiritual. The kids seemed to get the message!

Yesterday, we went to the temple to do some intitories. Jeff did the work for someone named Ulysses S. Grant born in 1878?. I had the opportunity to do the work for three German women and one of those was of the Jewish decent "tochtor Heohne". This women's children would likely have been in the prison camps. She may have even died in one. I was able to, I think, correctly say the name since in college my friend , Jon Robinson, dragged me to all his Hebrew speaking groups. I hope I got it somewhere close because the workers and I had no idea how else to say it!

Friday we went to the "black friday" and got a $300 GPS for $129. Then played with the Christmas gifts we opened this week in our family Christmas! If I had to say that there was one thing Jeff and I really loved that we got Jeff's would likely be the 3 combo Texas A&M t-shirts and mine would be the junior mints that Jeff got me (he found out that they are my favorite candy)! The kitties would be the pile of shredded paper that I saved for them or the glitter tinsel pompoms!

Thanksgiving- I cooked my first TURKEY!!! See pics of the feast I created! We did cook for a family of six! oops! Won't do that again! The kitties enjoyed a fish feast as we had gotten them some of those feeder goldfish! We found out that they did not want to eat them, just kill them! Violent KITTIES! Jeff also had a day full of football to give thanks!

That is about it! Besides cooking and working hard there is not much else for us to say about this week!

We are really excited about the potato peeler and the deodorant for Christmas! Hehehe We vote that we should play hot potato with a baby doll! :)
Julie



The Home Front

This week has been a wonderful week as we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving together. Grant and mom along with Emily's assistance prepared a delicious meal. It has been nice to spend time together and we anxiously look forward to Christmas time. We invited several people to join us for Thanksgiving but it worked out to be an exclusive family event. We were however joined by a winter storm with plenty of cold winds and snow.

Logan has been a great help around the home. He always knows how to lift our spirits. Logan and I have made some adjustments to his chicken coop adding lighting and a heated water trough. This well cared for chickens better produce soon or else!

Emily enjoyed activities with friends including sledding yesterday. She has been working a fair number of hours at Chips and was able to use some of her earnings to go to the midnight sales at Walmart on Black Friday.

Lanette enjoyed extra time away from school. She spent Friday with April Onsager, my former medical assistant, and her family. They are very kind to her. It is especially fun for Lanette since April watches several young children. She was able to hold a small baby which is total joy for Lanette.

Mom and I were able to attend the St Paul Temple on Saturday. We had four ancestors that needed confirmations done. It is interesting because their names had been identified by the extraction program and they had been baptized but it stopped there. I cannot totally explain that they needed all their other ordinances done for them. Yesterday their confirmations and initiatory work was done for them. It was fulfilling to get that done.

The International Haws Family

Mom and Dad,

Our week was busy. As Brazil does not commemorate Thanksgiving we did not get a slower weekend though I did lighten my work load a bit on Thursday.

On the southern hemisphere we are quickly approaching summer and summer break. With the end of the school year at hand Renata and the boys are loaded with assignments and tests. All appear to be safe within range of passing, which is their main concern and that provides comfort and motivation to push through.

Derick is on the count down for his birthday and has a long list of toys that he would like. To his luck Christmas is just around the corner which provide backup on unattended requests.

As to myself, I continue busy at work. There is still much for me to learn just to be able to complete my pending tasks but the challenges have brought excitement and unexpected opportunities.

I hope that your week went so well. Love ,

Jeff

The Jackson's of Albaquerque

Stacie and Kevin had an enjoyable week filled with lots of time with friends to combat their frustration over their car situation. On Wednesday Stacie and Kevin invited several friends from work and school to join them for a pie party the night before Thanksgiving. The party was very enjoyable and included a crazy adventure to make bacon milkshakes. Almost everyone that experienced it actually liked it, but Stacie was not a fan. (See the accompanying pictures to see just how disgusted with her sample.) On Thursday it snowed in Albuquerque for the first time since Stacie and Kevin moved in. Unfortunately, New Mexicans in the area are not used to snow and several streets were shut down due to accidents. Stacie and Kevin joined some friends from Kevin's graduate program for their Thanksgiving meal. They enjoyed playing with their friend's cat, watching A Muppet Christmas Carol, and falling asleep with full stomachs.


On Friday Stacie finished putting up Christmas decorations around the apartment while watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." In the evening Stacie and Kevin joined more friends for a night of fried turkey. They enjoyed fried turkey, fried duck, fried pickles, fried onions (wrapped in bacon), fried jalapenos, fried snickers, and much slower heart rates. Although they may have shortened their life spans by ten or twenty years, it was lots of fun. On Saturday they enjoyed one last party with friends by joining Kevin's fellow graduate student, Nick and his girlfriend, Amanda for a lunch of leftover Thanksgiving food. Afterwards they headed out for an evening of car shopping and left more confused and unsure about what to choose. Hopefully this week they will be able to select an affordable car that will last them longer than the hurt of paying for it.


They have included pictures of their pie party and fried turkey night.

News from Newport News


Andy and Melanie have packed up their belongings. The movers are coming tomorrow and they will soon be on the road to Colorado. They will be visiting the girls cousin, Wyatt, and his parents (Melanie's sister and brother-in-law) on the way. It brings back many a memory of our frequent moves. We wish them well.